The Principles of ISUComm

Basic Principles

The faculty of Iowa State University believes that all educated people should be able to communicate effectively in a variety of settings and media. Consequently, Iowa State University graduates are expected to develop competence in four interrelated areas of communication: written, oral, visual, and electronic.

This communication competence can best be achieved through the following five principles:

Communication instruction and practice are distributed over the student’s entire undergraduate experience, both in and out of the classroom, from the first through the senior year.

Communication instruction and practice are distributed across the curriculum, both in communication courses and in courses in the student’s major.

Active learning and higher-order thinking are fostered through communication.

Faculty across the university share responsibility for the student’s progress in communication practices.

Both faculty and students engage in ongoing assessment for continuous improvement of the student’s communication practices.

Iowa State University’s communication curriculum, based on these five principles, seeks to enrich the student’s understanding of the various subjects studied as well as prepare the student to communicate successfully in professional, civic, and private life.